The good and bad...IMOWhat I liked:
Kellum's enthusiasm and optimism shows through , "never seen a situation as optimistic", "don't get chances like this very often", " I put skin in the game"
Trial modifications make sense (e.g SOFA vs Mods). 25-50% enrollment uptick expected as a result. Enrollment expected to increase for other reaons : (1) declining ICU bed usage of late - pray Onicraon doesn't F that up) (2) 50% more sites up now (though that was supposed to happen 3 months ago). (3) More committed sites/hospitals (hopefully that don't want to let Kellum down) (4) regular "hold to task meeetings" (though as I recall that was supposed to happen a while ago). (5) expected Flu season, and post Covid, uptick in Sepsis etc. I'm from Missouri - Show me the uptick ! even a Tick ...or a Tic
Reading between the lines, sounds to me like DaVita will be participating in DIMI Trial.
Understated a bit but SOFA discussion and EDEN study will pay off down the road with much inicreased uptake by Doc's once approved.
What I didn't like:
Can kicking. Per Seto. US Listing premature (need more robust Trial enrollment, need higher share price...). Dialco Spin-off premature (need enrollment to start - now starting Q2 2022). We've all seen many public companies create silk purses out of a sows ear. We are starting with a LV purse in terms of medical need and accumulated body of evidence. This story as it is now, is not a sub $ 100M USD story ! It's not even a sub $ 200M USD story !
Dodging the question of how PMX might be useful for Covid. We all understood it's not a Covid Trial, and won't use Covid patients in the Tigris Trial, but that should not stop the Company from talking about the mounting evidence of Covid leading to Sepsis (see Sepsis Alliance) , gut translocation, Endotoxemia, etc. IMO that is the key to interim SP support until they hit their stride with Trial enrollments. Covid not likely to end next year. It's an Endemic and very likely PMX will be useful in reducing deaths (see Ronco, Golden Hour) . NO other public Company would or should pass on that story IMO
I get quality of patients over quantity. I really do. But cash burn is not just variable Trial costs, its' fixed salaries & overheads that must be paid whether one enrollee per month or 15. So delays and missed targets not only burn the SP, they set up the need for more raises and more dilution...and it becomes a viscious circle. We saw what happened with the last financing. Either promote the carp out of the science to excite the market to support the SP (including talking about the Covid connection) or do everything possible (more!) to increase quantity and sooner. Better yet, do both !
MM